Forward with agriculture

[MdmeX]

Forward with agriculture

Monday, March 03, 2008


Dear Editor,

Although I am Kingston-born and raised, I am quite passionate about agriculture to a point that I believe it should be taught in schools from infant and primary levels to the GCE/JSC levels in high schools along with marketing and entrepreneurship skills. This, I also believe, would attract a lot of young people to this profession in a meaningful way.

For example, in Holland where much of the country is under water - every inch of dry land is under cultivation. Even land that surrounds or is near the airport is being utilised. So I was very thrilled recently that an empty lot, overgrown with weeds in a section of the inner city of the Corporate Area, was transformed into a viable farm producing a number of fresh agricultural products (vegetables). This event is also a clear indication of how flexible agriculture can be and should be further encouraged.

The beauty about agriculture is that even though it is prone to bad weather, as soon as the weather improves, it can be turned around, with good seeds, fertiliser and of course irrigation materials. It doesn't take a lot of foreign investment to get it off the ground either.

Another good thing about it is that technology is now in place to revolutionise this industry completely. The Sugar Company of Jamaica's assets will be up for sale soon. I would very much like to see it sold to a Jamaican company or a company with a firm commitment to build a state-of-the-art sugar refinery. I cannot understand the rationale for a country to export its raw sugar and then turn around and import 600,000 tons of refined sugar per year to satisfy its domestic needs. The company that buys the SCJ assets should be able to produce all types and brands of sugar for consumers, the baking, confectionery and hotel industries. They could have the capacity to make sweeteners also.

We need to create good jobs for our people while at the same time strengthen and grow our economy. I am sure that on the top of the new company's agenda will be efficiency from which should come a pledge that during harvest time no cane should be left behind. I would also like to see security beefed up around the cane fields - and people caught setting these fires should not only be charged with arson but treason as well - because to be doing this they are indeed destroying the country's national resource.

I am also pleased with the idea as reported recently that the country is now producing liquefied eggs and will probably be expanding soon. That is exactly what I am advocating - so we see that with some effort and forward thinking, a lot can be done with agriculture. An idea that readily comes to mind as well is, instead of complaining every time there is an increase in the price of wheat, why not experiment in growing our own wheat? I firmly believe we should control production of our staples which include flour, sugar and rice.

Noel Mitchell
Westchester, New York
USA
Nlmworld@yahoo.com

[Willi]

Sowing a seed for peace - Veteran farmer is crucial link between agriculture and non-violence
published: Monday | March 3, 2008

Jarmila Jackson, Features Writer

Miss Icy separating callaloo seeds. The septuagenarian is part of a programme aimed at getting more children involved in farming. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
Icilyn Singh, a 78-year-old resident of Bushy Park in St Catherine, is best known in her community for supplying callaloo seeds to local farming supply stores at $400 per pound.
The business, 30 years strong, has expanded since then and now her daughter-in-law, Collette Khawalsingh, generates the bulk of the business on her farm.
The callaloo plant is first harvested, then sun-dried to ensure easier removal of seeds. After this, the plant is rubbed to remove the seeds; in her early days, it was possible for her to conduct this process entirely by hand, but as Miss Icy got older, she found it necessary to employ the use of a sieve.
There is, however, so much more to this woman than her callaloo seeds. She is an important component in the Violence Prevention Alliance's Callaloo for Peace initiative. Under the programme, schools across the nation are provided with callaloo seeds. Upon maturation, the school will be required to use the callaloo as part of VPA's 'run-a-boat festivities for peace. Child development experts have agreed that children who nurture plants and animals are less susceptible to violent and aggressive behaviour. So Miss Icy provides schools with the callaloo seeds.
Cottage industry
There is still another side to Miss Icy. She operates a small, multi-purpose farm on three and a half acres of land in the Vineyards community in Bushy Park, rearing animals ranging from chickens, pigs, and ducks to a very strange-looking fowl called the Silkie Bantam, which she initially bought as a pet and continues to sell its offspring to interested buyers.
There are a number of options on the small farm to help her pay her bills whenever any one crop is out of season. In addition to callaloo, she cultivates corn, pumpkin, coconut, yam, cabbage, banana, papaya, sorrel, orange, tangerine, and cashew (which she juices and sells).
"My mother and father come here from India and dem used to grow tobacco. Dem neva sen' mi go school because dem seh if mi go school mi going get married and dem neva want mi name fi change. So dem keep mi in the field to plant tobacco."
Nature's fury

Her crop range has been affected by seasonal floods. A few crops survived, apple and ackee among them.
A small greenhouse was also damaged, resulting in a major decline in flower sales.
Standing in her greenhouse, she reveals her expertise in the medicinal benefits of the various trees and shrubs which grow in her yard. Doctors often patronise her plant business, because of their medicinal benefits. The white periwinkle, in particular, aids in the treatment of cancer, she says, adding that it helps the prostate gland, improves blood supply to the brain and is a popular ingredient in several pharmaceuticals.
There is also the carambola (star fruit), which is good for the treatment of nausea and pain. It is the moringa plant, though, that she is most proud of. Just about every part of this plant can be used to treat various ailments, Miss Icy declares, saying its leaf promotes the normal functioning of the liver and the kidney, proper digestion, healthy circulatory system, as well as acting as an antioxidant, just to name a few. Though not professionally trained, Miss Icy is versed in the science of agriculture, gleaning her knowledge from years of experience with the soil, as well as a genuine curiosity and interest in discovering the properties of new plants. "Mi like plant, mi wouldn't mind every day mi find a seed fi go out inna di field go plant it," she stated.

Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com

[Willi]

Costa Rica to teach Jamaica greenhouse technology
published: Monday | March 3, 2008

Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Writer[/COLOR][/COLOR]
LONDON, England:
A dozen agricultural extension officers from Jamaica will be going to Costa Rica next month for training in greenhouse technology.
This comes courtesy of a technical cooperation agreement between Jamaica and the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), signed last week in Costa Rica.
Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton, who signed the agreement on Jamaica's behalf, said those trained in Costa Rica will in turn share the expertise gained with local farmers.
Jamaica has been on a drive to substantially increase the acreage of farming using greenhouse technology, and according to the agriculture minister, this Costa Rican initiative will boost such efforts.
In a further development along those lines, Dr Tufton revealed that an agreement was also reached last week with technical experts in [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Spain[/COLOR][/COLOR] who will be assisting Jamaica in the construction of greenhouse clusters.
Speaking with The Gleaner in London, on his way home from Spain, the minister said the technical cooperation with Spain was being spurred on by the growing presence of Spanish investors in the Jamaican [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]hotel[/COLOR][/COLOR] sector.
Accordingly, he disclosed that some Spanish hoteliers were considering getting directly involved in greenhouse farming as a means of establishing a direct link between their hotel operations and the supply of [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]fruits [COLOR=orange! important]and [/COLOR][COLOR=orange! important]vegetables[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] for their guests.
"We are encouraged that all of these investors are very willing to engage in backward integration to supply the hotels, and that a number of them will be actual investors in projects that will lead to these backward linkages."
Similarly, he said, there were expressions of interest on the part of some Spanish hoteliers in the establishment of fish farms to supply their properties in Jamaica.
It was important, he stressed, for Jamaica and other Caribbean countries to boost their agricultural production, not only to satisfy growing visitor demands but also to guarantee their own food security, in the face of rising prices and the diversion of some agricultural production as feedstock for alternative energy sources.
That search for increased food security has also led to Jamaica having discussions with the government of Costa Rica with a view to setting up several large cassava farms on mined out bauxite lands and complementary processing facilities.
This, according to Dr. Tufton, could see Jamaica lessening its dependence on imported wheat flour, the price of which is on the increase.
Cooperation with Costa Rica will also extend to the introduction of a new variety of pineapple from that country into Jamaica, he said.
Several of these initiatives are being undertaken with the support of IICA, which has collaborated with Jamaica in developing a framework to strengthen linkages between agriculture and tourism. Ena Harvey, Hemispheric Specialist with IICA is also spearheading the establishment of the Caribbean Agro-Tourism Resource Centre, to be based in Barbados. This, she explained, will provide much needed technical support for countries seeking to strengthen the agriculture-tourism linkages.

[Willi]

Demya roach, dem have an approach!

Farmers helper: the flying cockroach
By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press WriterMon Mar 3, 6:57 AM ET


Loathed by homeowner and restaurateur, the lowly cockroach is gaining some respect in the agricultural community.
Researchers in South Texas are beginning to sing the praises of a flying cockroach from Asia that has shown a voracious appetite for pests that plague farmers. They concede, however, that most people would still be revolted at the sight of the helpful predator.
"It just brings out this visceral reaction in people," said Bob Pfannenstiel, an entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "There's too much cultural antipathy just because of the other cockroaches."
The other cockroaches include the German variety, a common breed that doesn't fly and is often seen scattering from countertops when kitchen lights are flicked on.
The Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, is almost identical in appearance to the German variety and is also active at night. But instead of leftover pizza, it feasts on insects harmful to crops.
They first appeared in Florida in 1986, and the species has expanded its range ever since. They've migrated to southern Georgia, Alabama and up the East Coast.
They ventured west into Texas in 2006, and became the most common predator of bollworm eggs in the state's Rio Grande Valley region. The bollworm threatens cotton, soybean, corn and tomato crops.
Pfannenstiel has counted as many as 100 roaches per square meter in soybean fields. In one instance, he found 14 cockroaches on a single leaf. None damaged the plants.
About 86 percent of the pests' eggs — which Pfannenstiel and colleagues placed out in fields to conduct research — were gone within 24 hours.
"I saw them feeding more than any other predator," Pfannenstiel said. "It was truly a spectacle. It was unbelievable, and I'm sure they were feeding on more than eggs."
The cockroach also eats the eggs of the beet armyworm — a pest to cotton, cabbage and a variety of other crops.
South Texas cotton producer Jimmy Dodson said he's thankful the Asian cockroach is helping reduce pests in the region's cotton fields.
"The enemy of my enemy is a friend," said Dodson, whose family farms 9,000 acres of cotton. "When you have an ally in (reducing pests) you're not going to run them off. We need all the help we can get."
Scientists have studied predator insects in agriculture for years but not much research has been done at night. Pfannenstiel, who researches beneficial insects, plans a long-term study to determine whether the cockroach remains a predator all its life.
"Without studying what goes on at night, we would never have observed some of our most important predators in cotton and soybeans," he said. "It's interesting that the cockroach could be a benefit to farmers."
___
On the Net:

South Texas Cotton and Grain Association, http://www.stcga.org Agricultural Research Service, http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/main.htm